Ohio University Professor of Counseling and Higher Education Tom Davis recently was presented with the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Robert O. Stripling Award for Excellence in Standards. Davis also serves as secretary to the Ohio University Board of Trustees.

Davis and five other individuals who made up the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs Standards Revision Committee (SRC) accepted the award in Charlotte, N.C., on March 22 at the American Counseling Association Conference. From 2005 to 2008 under Davis' direction as chair, the six-person committee worked to develop a plan for the revision of the organization's standards.

"The work of the CACREP Standards Review Committee is easily the most undervalued task a counselor educator can assume while simultaneously providing the greatest impact to the profession of Counseling," said David M. Kleist, ACES president. "The standards review process is essential to providing the parameters of counselor training in the upcoming years and the tireless work of the committee to explore and craft the future of counselor training standards will leave an indelible mark on counseling for years to come."

The Stripling award is given to a person or people who have shown a commitment to:

Leadership in the advancement of standards for counselor education and supervision

Program development and counselor preparation

Enhancement of the profession through competency-based credentialing

Establishing a history of excellence in the formation and implementation of professional standards in counseling, counselor education and supervision.

Stripling is recognized having one of the greatest influences in the development of counselor education programs at U.S. colleges and universities from 1940 to 1990.

"The work the SRC did during the standards revision process was rewarding and in fact perhaps some of the most meaningful of my career," Davis said. "I believe the work that was done has brought recognition to Ohio University's Counselor Education Program and it is my sincere hope that the committee's efforts will serve the counseling profession well over the next decade."